Sixth man on St Stanislaus College sex charges is priest

Brisbane Times - Australia May 6, 2009

by Jonathan Dart & Arjun Ramachandran

A SIXTH former staff member of a Bathurst school, St Stanislaus College, has been charged with child sex offences.

Kevin Phillips, 58, a priest, worked at the school for only a few months in 1990. He lived on school grounds and helped out as a football coach and part-time teacher.

He appeared in Downing Centre Local Court yesterday on charges that he attempted homosexual intercourse with a student, committed a gross act of indecency and supplied cannabis.

Phillips, who lives in Mackay, Queensland, was asked to go to Surry Hills police station on Monday night and was questioned there before being charged. He left the court yesterday accompanied by his lawyer, Greg Walsh, who said his client would plead not guilty to the charges.

Police set up Strike Force Belle 10 months ago to investigate allegations of sexual assaults against students at two secondary colleges at Bathurst between 1960 and 1993. They have laid a total of more than 150 charges against six teachers from the school and a seventh man who taught at a nearby Anglican college.

Four of the other accused men had left St Stanislaus by 1990. The school chaplain, Brian Spillane, left in 1991.

Spillane faces more than 100 of the charges, including that he indecently assaulted a girl as young as seven.

In December the Strike Force Belle commander, Superintendent Mick Goodwin, said police had taken more than 100 statements from witnesses.

Most of the alleged victims were boys aged between 10 and 15, and were at the school between 1963 and 1992.

Phillips is still practising as a priest in Mackay. He was granted bail and is not required to attend in person at the next hearing of his case in Sydney on June 23.

This article was found at:

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/sixth-man-on-bathurst-school-sex-charges-is-priest-20090505-au24.html